Key Takeaways:
Franklin Templeton has unveiled its OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) on Solana.
The launch indicates the strong interest of the big financial institutions in the blockchain features available on Solana.
Tokenization of real-world assets like US Treasuries is a rapidly growing trend.
Franklin Templeton, a financial giant managing $1.6 trillion in assets, has made a significant move into the Solana ecosystem. On February 12, 2025, the company announced the launch of its OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) on the Solana layer-1 blockchain. The company’s first introduction to the blockchain world was in 2021 when they started FOBXX. This move not only reinforces their support but also furthers the integration of blockchain into traditional finance.
The FOBXX fund stands out as one of the most secure and stable, investing nearly 100% of its assets in US government securities, cash, and fully collateralized repos. As of January 31, 2025, the fund had $512 million in assets and returned a 7-day effective yield of 4.2%. In the current financial climate, where investors are constantly seeking secure and yield-generating opportunities, this fund presents an attractive option, now made even more accessible through the power of blockchain.
Expanding the Blockchain Footprint
Regarding this, a spokesperson from Franklin Templeton remarked that “With this development, Franklin Templeton is expanding its layer-1 blockchain footprint as Solana continues to grow its institutional participant ecosystem.” The expression of the purpose is clear: Solana has transcended the status of being a playful platform for meme coins. The platform has started to attract significant institutional interest, and moves such as Franklin Templeton’s only make this all the more true.
The FOBXX token is available on multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, and Aptos, and can be seamlessly exchanged between them. Franklin Templeton sees tokenizing real-world assets across multiple platforms as a promising investment strategy, reinforcing its commitment to blockchain technology. Remarkably, FOBXX is the first of its kind in America to utilize DLT to make the processes and transactions smooth and fast so that the system can keep track of each BENJI token which should be equal to a share of the fund. In the financial industry, there is often a long time that is taken for mutual funds. The industry is laden with lots and lots of paperwork. Blockchain is an efficient technology, which may offer a good solution.
Following the Trend: Tokenized Institutional Investment
For a similar launch on Solana, institution Franklin Templeton has also moved to tokenized assets by launching FOBXX – a fund. This is just like the new network launch of the investment project, the Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund, which is totally tokenized.
A Growing Space
Real assets tokenization has been booming on the back of the adoption of stablecoins, U.S. government bonds, private credit vehicles, and by institutions. The desire for decentralized, on-chain trading has extended to corporate bonds, stocks, and commodities.
Franklin Templeton’s Crypto Initiatives Beyond Solana
Besides this Solana initiative, the company’s entry into the crypto space has more to it. The company introduced Bitcoin ETFs and Ethereum ETFs in January, and July 2024, respectively, as they are demonstrating its readiness to be onboard with the fast-growing digital asset market. In addition, the company is seeking a further go ahead from the SEC to launch the Crypto Index ETF showing the company’s commitment in the cryptos area. Such steps prove that Franklin Templeton is a forward-looking organization responsible for the complete change in the financial sector.
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Solana ETF on the Horizon?
As part of their development in the Solana network, Franklin Templeton filed a trust in Delaware in February 2025 which is related to a Solana ETF. Though there are several proposed ETFs, the approval process is made complicated by persistent legal discourse whether SOL is an unregistered security. The SEC’s standpoint on this matter is the main driver of the investment products of Solana in the future.
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Solana’s Rising Institutional Appeal
While it remains popular among meme-coin enthusiasts, Solana has recently seen a surge in institutional interest. Fact is, DApps’ investments on Solana have grown by 54% in the third quarter of 2024, totaling $173 million. And CoinShares has brought to the surface that wealth managers and hedge funds are allocating more SOL in 2024.
Solana’s Comeback Story
Solana has faced several challenges along its journey. The SOL token dropped below $10 following the FTX crash, dealing a significant blow to the ecosystem. However, it has made a remarkable recovery, reaching as high as $265.10 per SOL. This surge was partly driven by speculation surrounding a memecoin allegedly purchased by a former US President, boosting interest in the ecosystem. The network’s integrity bears witness to its developed technology which is at the center and consolidated community.
The Broader Tokenization Landscape
The tokenized treasury assets strategy is widely accepted by Franklin Templeton, which leads to them to take the course of the multi-chain route like BlackRock, Hashnote, Ondo, and OpenEden. BlackRock’s open source project is called BUIDL and it can be bought using Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and Optimism, but Ondo USDY is being bought on Solana and Mantle as well as Ethereum and Aptos.
The $3.6 billion coverage of the assets has been pushed by easy like the U.S. Treasuries. Hashnote’s Short Duration Yield Note currently is in the lead with a $1.1 billion market cap. Followed by: BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX. USDY by Ondo is also a significant player in rwa.xyz’s list.
The RWA Revolution
At this very moment, the real-world asset (RWA) on-chain market cap has reached beyond the border $17.2 billion. rwa.xyz is currently keeping track of over 110 asset issuers in the field. This enormous growth points out that there is some kind of a transformation in the way assets are managed and traded. The advantages of tokenization, such as increasing liquidity, transparency, and accessibility, are becoming ever more explicit.
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Solana Continues to Expand
Solana has just become the newest blockchain network to distribute Franklin’s tokenized money market fund, with the previous ones being Aptos, Ethereum, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Base, and Polygon. Initially, the fund was launched on Stellar. At least 99.5% of FOBXX assets are invested in U.S. government securities, cash, and repurchase agreements, where the fund keeps a stable $1 share price.
